Borscht

I made some borscht tonight. Yum.

back on track

So we did Greek again yesterday, actually got through a NEW chapter. Greg's nice to us, he says we're doing good.

So I started sewing dresses again today, finally. I’m making some with biggish patches, blues and green. I think they'll be pretty. I talked with Jody today a bit about redesigning the bodice a bit; we'll see how our experiments turn out.

I've been listening to a book on tape these days, while I wash dishes and now while I sew again, well in between sewing, mainly while cutting and ironing, I cant hear well with my machine running. Anyway, it’s called "The Decline and fall of the Roman Empire" by Edward Gibbon (the abridged version of course, the original is WAY too long). It’s supposed to be pretty accurate; I mainly became interested in reading it because Historicists of old have used Gibbons history for their interpretations of some of Revelation. It’s helpful to actually know who's who, when the Historicists make references to such and such an event. It’s pretty interesting. There was so much violence during those centuries. The Emperors had so much power, yet could be so easily taken out by the whim of his own military. Gibbon sure was down on Christianity in general. Also he said that a lot of the early martyr stories are fake, that something like only 100 Christians were killed per year over the 10 year persecution time period, unlike what the early Catholic Church had represented, they said a ton more were killed. Anyway, I don’t doubt the Church lying, relics of martyrs were one of their big interests, and snares which they set for the people. Gibbon made an interesting point of noting how many more thousands of Protestants were killed by the Catholic Church than ever by the Emperors, especially Nero, he said he got a worse rap than he deserved in modern history. That was a surpise. I wonder what else I can read to substantiate this. Anyway, bla bla bla, gotta get back to work.

Greek etc

OK, so this is must be a record, I am posting AGAIN.

Today poor Shawn stayed home from our Greek lesson at the Pastor’s because he's still sick and needed more rest before going to work this afternoon. I'm a little sick too, (oops, shouldna kissed him last week) but not as bad as he is, and I don’t have to go slave at a job, I love being a homemaker/dressmaker when I want to. :D So anyway, Greek. It was grueling, we have all been sick or Greg has been traveling, so we haven’t studied for like 6 or 7 weeks straight. Last week Edgar came over and we went through some of our vocab, not really an encouraging time. Today was more encouraging. Greg took us through a lot of the rules and all of the declensions. I thought for sure that I'd forgotten everything. But after some straining of my mind, being asked the hardest questions first, it all started coming back, bit by bit, yay. :D Shawn and I need to get studying every other day at least to get back on track, and to stay on track for that matter.

While we studied, Lonna loaded my car with a bunch of stuff for Amanda, as well as a big suitcase full of hand-me-downs from Cecelia. I didn’t have time to stay at A's since Shawn was going to work, it would have been so much more fun trying on the skirts that were way too small, and the "cat woman" boots with her to laugh with me. It would have been just like old times, Amanda, our cous Jason and I used to try on grab bags. Jason, the comedian had on over his clothes, a ladies dress, a Michael Jackson red jacket, and high heeled boots, at which time some man pulled into the drive, who Jason was to help unload something. So Jason was scrambling to the door tearing of his outfit as he ran, not wanting to be caught in such a get-up. So funny, you had to be there. Now this was a long time ago, 12 years to be exact, we were being kids because we were. :D Anyway, the lady has good taste, and I did pick out several sweaters and a jacket to keep.

I am washing laundry today, woohoo. I feel like I need a nap. Thanks for listening.

EFA's

I found myself on the FAQ page of Udo Erasmus' website the other day while doing a search on google for something, I cant remember what. Anyway, I came across this section and thought it was very informative, especially the part about mothers after having several children.

Does a woman's needs for EFA's increase during pregnancy?


EFAs are required for brain development and brain function. During pregnancy, the child draws EFAs from the mother's body to build its brain, which is over 60% fat and very rich in both n-3 and n-6 EFA derivatives. The placenta contains receptors that ensure that n-3 and n-6 EFAs are transported from the mother to the baby. No such receptors are found for the non-essential monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids.

During breast feeding, the child pulls 11 grams of EFAs from the mother daily through breast milk.

During pregnancy, the child depletes women of EFAs. Each child gets less EFAs than the previous child, and each subsequent child depletes the mother further unless the mother augments her diet with essential fatty acids.

Depletion of the mother's EFA stores explains why younger children have far more developmental and behavioral problems than older children, especially in large families in which the children are born close together.

Depletion of EFAs during pregnancy also provides a rationale for why women experience far more depression, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue, and more inflammatory, autoimmune, and collagen diseases than men. Women suffer these problems from 2 to 15 times more frequently than men do. The depletion of EFAs during child bearing predisposes women to these conditions. Men are not depleted by baby brain building in the way that women are.

the last 4 things

last one, then i'm done. (hannah made me, ok she said to)

4 things I hope to see or do before I die:

1. see my great grandkids serving God faithfully
2. see the church united in the truth, through out the whole world, and the civil magistrates keeping ALL of God's laws. not saying i expect this in my life time, it would just be great to see it
3. do all of my duties
4. make meaningful relationships with love

4 Things I Cannot Do:

1. make good bread in the bread machine
2. add multi digit sums in my head
3. make up my mind regarding my hair, long or short??
4. spel :)

4 Things that Attract Me to my Spouse, ok 10:

1. Shawn loves God
2. Shawn loves God's truth and talking about it with me and others
3. Shawns so funny
4. Shawn loves me
5. Shawn has the bluest eyes
6. Shawn is really cute
7. Shawn is my best friend
8. Shawn is smart
9. Shawn loves babies, and they love him
10. Shawn is a great hugger


My 4 Favorite Songs in the Year 2005:

1. By my side - Ben Harper
2. Not fire, not ice - Ben Harper
3. The Scientist - Coldplay
4. After Her - Dave Matthews


4 Things I Say Most Often:

1. I love you
2. Psycho
3. It'll be fine
4. Good enough


4 Books or Series that I Love:

1. The Psalms
2. Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snickett (on tape)
3. Various histories of the Covenanters
4. Sermons by Christopher Love & Thomas Watson

4 People Who Should Do This:

i think its all been done

business as usual. almost

Well, I'm nearly recovered from "the plague" that's been going around. After Dor, Jody, and Amos left, I got what Amos had, I think. I'll spare the details. The good news is that I'm on track, ready to go, yet lacking a little ambition still. Today, after talking to Jody, I mustered enough enthusiasm to cut out some bloomers, ready to sew, sometime soon. :D I'm taking a break right now, to eat steamed broccoli with cheese and butter. Complete and balanced. :)

In other news, I cleaned Shawn's desk. For those of you that have been in our room recently, my apologies for not cleaning it sooner. He's been busy.

Shawn's been sick too, but he's good enough for work now, so that's what he's doing tonight.

We've been reading a great couple of books together, a history and a set of sermons. I think Christopher Love was a wonderful illustrator, such color can be seen, or heard rather, in his sermons.

Alright, breaks over.